Mnemonic
by Kaisa Enara
Summary: Who was this girl? She seemed to know him, but Matt had never seen her before. [from Who Wants To Be A Superhero...?]


_I know, I know. When you told me to update, you meant to COACT 2. Sorry, I'm just not done with the second chapter yet (if you'd like to hear my excuses, please feel free to check my bio). At least I did _something_, right? _

_This is a companion piece to "Feedback and Fried Chicken". I would like to take this opportunity to have you all look over there points in the general direction of Rancho Cucamonga and give a big "THANK YOU" to Feedback. Because guess what? The first story was supposed to be a one-shot. But Feedback wanted to hear more, and who am I to deny him?_

_The character of Feedback is © Matthew Atherton and Sarah Blevins (the latter of whom I would like to thank—again— for not reaching through her cell phone and throttling me during the Interview in a Storm Fiasco). I would give some credit to Dark Horse Comics as well, but I refuse to acknowledge that they have anything to do with Feedback until I see my comic book. taps foot impatiently_

_Right. Sorry about the pre-fic ranting…I just do that sometimes. Anywho, enjoy._

**Mnemonic**_by Kaisa Enara _

You'd think that after getting caught in an explosion and coming out of it with superpowers, a man's life would be anything but normal.

To Matthew Atherton, the days since that fateful accident had become so incredibly routine that they'd taken on a normalcy of their own. It was always wake up, put on dampening suit, check in with Tech Support, grab some breakfast, play some video games, and go on with his business until it came time to save the city from evil.

Or old people from ghosts. Or whatever else happened to need saving—something always did.

Except…nothing _had_ needed saving for a while now. There hadn't been a single dastardly plot to thwart for more than a week. Things had just been quiet.

_Too_ quiet, if you'll pardon the cliché.

It was Saturday morning, and Matt had been sitting anxiously with his cell phone in hand, waiting for someone from Tech Support or the police department to call with the bad news that just _had_ to be lurking around the corner. And then Sarah had told him to go to the grocery store.

He'd tried to get out of it, of course; saving the world was far more important than a gallon of milk, and if Deathmatch had been quiet _this _long, then he was surely cooking up something of globe-threatening proportions.

"It's a _cell phone_," Sarah reminded him. "It's not like you can't take it with you. Now _out_. It's either shopping or cleaning out your office, Captain Clutter."

Faced with _that_ ultimatum, Matt had been out the front door so fast he was surprised he hadn't left a cartoonish dust-cloud in his wake.

"Ouch!"

The voice snapped him out of his thoughts. He'd gone to grab a pack of Hot Pockets and inadvertently clocked an unsuspecting shopper with the freezer door. His hapless victim, a frizzy-haired teenager, blinked up at him and rubbed her injured nose.

"I'm so sorry!" he exclaimed, shutting the door. "I didn't see you there! Are you okay?"

The girl nodded. "Yeah, fine," she said. "Don't worry, it was my fault anyway. I should have been looking where I was go—"

She stopped suddenly and looked him up and down. A moment later, she grinned. "Well, fancy meeting you here!" she laughed. "Wow, it's been, like, six weeks. You don't call, you don't write…I was beginning to think you didn't like me anymore." She tried a mock-pout but was smiling too hard to pull it off.

Who was this girl? She seemed to know him, but Matt had never seen her before. "I'm sorry, but do I know you?" he asked.

She stopped laughing. Something flitted across her face—disappointment? Hurt?—but then it was gone and Matt could only wonder if he'd ever seen it in the first place.

"Oh, yeah. You probably just forgot me," the girl said nonchalantly. "I should have figured the memory-loss deal would erase me."

Matt's eyes widened. "How do you know about—" He was about to say _my powers_, but there were a few people further down the aisle and he didn't want to take any chances. "—that?"

"You told me," she said simply. "Oh, and…" She pulled at one side of her shirt collar and nodded to him. Matt looked down, and saw a flash of blue peeking up from beneath his own collar. He tugged it up and thanked her.

"No problem. Listen, I need to go check out. Later."

And she was gone.

They got out of the store at the same time—the girl had managed to get into the slowest line possible.

"Hi again," she said. She leaned in and lowered her voice. "Sorry, I almost called you Feedback out here. You have a real name so I don't give away your secret identity?"

"It's Matt."

"Okay. Matt. Got it."

"Well, it was nice seeing you. Again, I guess. Are you waiting for someone to pick you up?"

She shook her head. "Nope, my dad's car broke down and I don't have one of my own. I'm walking. My house isn't too far."

"I don't think so," Matt said. "It's freezing out here. Come on, I'll give you a ride."

They walked to his car and placed their purchases in the trunk. Matt opened the passenger-side door.

"You know, I was always taught not to get into cars with strangers," she said, "but, since you're a superhero, I think I can make an exception."

Matt got behind the wheel and, after getting directions, got onto the road.

As he drove, the girl pulled a pen and something else out of her purse, and began to write. She didn't say a word the entire drive.

"Thanks for the ride," she said as they pulled up in her driveway. "Could you pop the trunk? Thanks."

After getting her two grocery bags, she left. As he backed into the street, he saw her waving from the porch.

Matt had pulled up to his own driveway when he realized the girl had left something on the seat. It was a wallet-size school photo. He turned it over and found several lines of small, neat script on the back.

_Feedback,_

_My name is Courtney. You met me six weeks ago when you saved me from a pack of muggers in a dark alley. We had dinner and played some video games at my house at 2 in the morning. You told me about being a superhero, and I told you about my writing, which you seemed a little interested in. I've wanted to repay you for saving me, so if you need any help, let me know and I'll do what I can. Hope that helps. —C_

Well, it wasn't quite a memory recovered, but it helped. Matt placed it in his pocket with a smile, and went to bring in the groceries.

The next day, Courtney found an unexpected surprise in the mailbox. Beneath a department-store catalogue and a few bills lay a plain envelope bearing her name. She tore it open, and found a business card and a note inside.

_Courtney,_

_Thanks for the memory. I've thought of something you could do to help me out; swing by Forthright Industries when you have time and we'll work things out._

_Game on!_

_Feedback._

_Fin_

_Okay, you know the drill. Click that submit-review button at the bottom of your page and give me a little "feedback" of my own. (Please?)_

_Oh, and Tian? **We're not groupies.**_


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